It Always Was
by Snad
Summary: What would have happened if Jenny's grandfather hadn't been there to save her? The story of Jenny living with Julian until one day her life is entwined once with those from the past. Rated T for possible humor and some language.
1. Preface

**Disclaimer: The Forbidden Game belongs to LJ Smith, this is just a fanfic. I do not claim anything but the writing.**

**Story: That day when she opened the closet door, her grandpa wasn't there to take her place. This is the story of what might have happened if the Shadow Men had taken Jenny. She was five when she was taken and had already met all of her friends with the exception of Audrey. **

Preface

"I _want_ her," the youngest one argued heatedly. Jenny was clutching herself to a small boulder while the ugly men argued. The youngest one wasn't ugly, though, as well as another boy beside him. Jenny didn't know what was happening. All she knew was that she had opened the closet door—she knew she shouldn't have but curiosity got the best of her. Besides, she had never been in the basement alone before and everything was so _new _now that she hadn't had grandpa pulling her away from the shelves.

They scared Jenny, even the two boys. Most of them were so ugly that Jenny couldn't stand to look at them. The only two that weren't ugly were too scarily intense to watch. So she watched her hands, clutching the rock, and occasionally peeked through her eyelashes to see who was speaking. Everyone was taking a part in the discussion except the boy with the one that 'wanted her.'

Jenny didn't know what that meant.

"And we're hungry," someone snapped. It was one of the ugly ones, Jenny confirmed with a quick glance up. "We've been trapped here for a long time by him, and she is in relation with him!"

"He'll come looking for her, or someone else will. Take him then."

"Or," the other boy spoke quietly and for the first time, "we can just leave. The closet door is open now, isn't it? We aren't trapped anymore." His words were followed by a stunned silence, as if none of the others had realized that.

"See, problem solved," the first boy spoke smoothly. "I can take her and you go do whatever it is you want to do."

"You're not going to have her all to herself, are you? She's small, but she's young. I bet she is tasty. You can't keep her from us if you're just going to enjoy her yourself."

The boy huffed indignantly. "I don't want her for my hunger, I want her to keep." The ugly ones snorted disapprovingly.

"Take her, but you better hope that we are able to get someone better to satiate us."

"I think not," the boy said lowly with a laugh. Jenny looked at him to see his eyes trained on her. Those eyes…a shock of blue—a blue that she could never create with a crayon or anything else. Then, to Jenny's shock, the boy came over to her, followed closely by the other one.

"Come on," he commanded, holding out his hand. "Jenny, isn't it?" Jenny shook her head frantically at the question but kept her mouth shut.

"Then what is your name?" he asked, trying again. Jenny shook her head mutely once more. "So be it, noname," he sighed and raked his fingers through his name. "Will you at least talk to me?"

"You're strange," Jenny blurted suddenly, without meaning.

"What?" The boy looked confused.

"Mommy says not to talk to strangers." Jenny then closed her mouth again, clamping her lips together in a thin line. She was scared, scared enough that the tendrils of her wispy pale hair could have been shaking along with the rest of her.

"How can I make myself less strange?" Silence. "Well, my name is Julian." More silence. "I'm here to take care of you; I can give you anything you want."

Jenny bit her bottom lip and looked down at the tips of her muddy shoes. They used to be white. "I want Tommy…and Zach…and Michael…and…Summer," she whispered with a sniffle. "And I want Dee. Deedeedee…" Jenny trailed off again but then looked up at Julian with huge eyes. "Dee is my best friend—we're BFF's. I want her." Jenny whimpered at the familiarity of the three words. She had heard it said repeatedly from the mouth of the boy in front of her, Julian.

"Listen I…I can't give you your friends but I can give you _anything_ else you want. What will it be? Pearls? A beautiful dress?"

Jenny hesitated and then shrugged. "I'm kinda sleepy," she said with a shy look up at Julian. "Can't I go home to my bed and sleep? Zach will be missing me because aunty always reads us a story before bed when I'm sleeping at my aunt and uncles."

"No, you can't go home to your bed but you can go to sleep in your new bed, bigger than any bed you had before. And I'll read you a book. How's that sound?"

"Well…" Jenny stifled a yawn and then nodded slowly. "Little Red Riding Hood?"

Julian looked confused for a moment but nodded. "Whatever you'd like."

"Fine. But I'm going home tomorrow or else mommy will be frantic." Jenny blinked sleepily.

"Come on, princess, off to bed then," Julian laughed softly, almost to himself, and stooped to pick up little Jenny. Exhaustion overtaking wariness, Jenny cuddled against Julian's chest and rested her head on his neck. She was asleep before he set her on the bed.

**If you have any questions, please feel free and ask them. I'll answer them probably via message but if it is something that will help everyone else I'll post it at the beginning of the next chapter. Please review—friendly critics welcome!**


	2. Welcome to the Game

**Thanks everyone who read and reviewed the preface! Here's chapter one for you. But on the subject of the prefacekinda, I realized a big mistake I made. Well, it wasn't exactly a mistake but I'm changing it for the sake of the story, though I hate changing what I already typed. Jenny did NOT know anyone from the books with the exception of Zach, kay? I intend this to be a rather short story but it will be at least ten-ish chapters. Enjoy!**

Chapter 1

Jenny sighed and did a quick spin in the dress she was wearing. It was perfect, of course, exactly what she had hoped for when Julian had promised her a dress. She just worried that it didn't look right on her. It was a bright blue—without being obnoxiously bright—and ended right above her knees. Her shoulders were bare as was her neck except for an old locket, from Before. She didn't remember Before and had stopped asking Julian about it. It scared her.

It sounded like a lot of quarrel and anger, with hate and rape and death. The world that Jenny knew now had none of that. Her world was perfect, the best of the real world and the world of the Shadow Men. Peace and war met in a perfect blend, creating a challenging life, often unfair, but one where there wasn't any real war or hate.

Jenny sighed again and gave herself another small twirl, examining her dress as she did. Julian always said that she looked perfect in her clothes and, though she had grown to feel the same about herself and her looks, she was still a bit wary of what _he_ really thought when he saw her. Her eyes were drawn to her left hand, where the beautiful posy ring stayed. Julian had offered it to her three weeks before, on her seventeenth birthday. Of course, she had agreed and only took it off to admire the inside.

She took off the ring now and held it up to the bright sunlight streaming through the window. _All I refuse & thee I chuse._ She considered it an engagement ring of sorts, though of course they weren't planning on marrying. Marrying had never really occurred to Jenny too much. Pretty much all she remembered was Julian and they were close, closer than any real married couple, Jenny thought.

"Stop frowning," a voice chastised lightly from behind Jenny. Jenny whirled, a smile already on her face, to look at Julian. "Frowning makes your wrinkle." Julian stepped towards Jenny to press a light kiss on her forehead.

"Maybe I do it just to get those little kisses from you," Jenny laughed, her voice equally light and happy. Julian did that to her, made her happy when no one else could. It was Julian that understood Jenny's thoughts and moods and it was he that was there to either comfort her or suffer the abuse of her moods.

"I feel used," Julian murmured, tipping Jenny's face up with two fingers under her chin. He pressed his lips to Jenny's in a quick but passionate kiss.

"Mmm…no need." Jenny was nearly purring from Julian's touch, his dangerously sexy voice, his shocking blue eyes boring into her own green ones. "Where's Silva and Jarvs?" she asked him, forcing herself to pull away from the lure of Julian's lips nearly brushing hers.

Julian groaned so that Jenny could feel his sweet breath tickling and cooling her wet lips. "I hate it when you change the subject," he growled and swept Jenny into a quicker, more chaste kiss before answering. "Silva is in her room, looking for you. Jarvs is…preparing a new game." Julian's voice became slightly quieter with the last part of the sentence. Jenny knew that he hated discussing Shadow business with her, afraid it would scare her. Jenny also knew, from Silva, that Julian owed the Elders for something that had happened years ago, what she didn't know, as well as something to put a halt to his own hunger.

"Of course," Jenny sighed and rested her head on Julian's shoulder. "So I won't see you until Wednesday?" She glanced at the calendar without moving her head. It was Sunday evening. Though they were in the in-between world, between the real world and the shadow land, they had most of the benefits of the real world. Like definite times and dates, using the same names for the days.

Julian pressed his face against Jenny's hair so that Jenny could feel the rise of his cheeks, undoubtedly signaling a somewhat smug smile. "Nope. I'll be back tomorrow at dawn. The Game will occur tonight. Some stupid teenager 'stumbled' across the game at a flea market."

Jenny bit her lip and considered this. The Games didn't happen often, maybe four times at most a year, but even so Jenny was used to the routine. Some others days were reserved for discovering new, more exciting ways to play. "Let me come."

The words startled them both, especially since Jenny hadn't meant to say what she had been thinking since the last Game. Julian surprised her even more by agreeing in a low murmur. Jenny pulled away from him and looked him straight in the eye. "You're seriously going to let me come with you?"

"Of course I will," Julian answered with a slight smile. "Don't get me wrong, the idea scares the hell out of me, but you'll have both Jarvs and I to protect you."

"I don't need anyone to protect me," Jenny snapped, flushing angrily and yanking away from Julian. She knew Julian meant well but that didn't mean she liked to be thought of as a needy girl who couldn't take care of herself.

"Of course you don't," Julian responded quickly, not surprised by Jenny's outburst and his voice soothing. "Silly of me to ever think that you did." Julian moved once more to envelope Jenny in his arms. She didn't move but remained stiff, her arms over her chest. After a few moments, she relaxed against Julian.

"I have to go see Silva, I guess," Jenny said and pulled away from Julian again, this time reluctantly.

"Or you can stay here with me," Julian suggested, arching an eyebrow. He took a step towards Jenny when she took a step away.

"No, because you need to go see Jarvs," she reminded him, pressing her lips against his for one last brief kiss. Julian took over, deepening the kiss, and Jenny's hands when to his hair. It was Jenny who pulled away with a little taunting smile at Julian.

"Fine," he sighed. "Let me walk you to her room?" Julian held out his arm to Jenny who took it quickly, saying, "Why thank you, kind sir."

"What do you need?" Jenny asked upon entering Silva's room.

"Your opinion," Silva muttered. She was distracted, holding a long black dress up to the mirror. "What is wrong with it? It just doesn't…look right."

"It's too boring," Jenny said, falling into the routine automatically. Silva liked to make modifications to dresses and often asked Jenny for opinions; by now Jenny had learned Silva's style. "Maybe bunch it a little at the ends here," Jenny pointed with touched the end of the dress with her hands. "And get rid of the sleeves, it makes you look like a nun."

"You're right," Silva decided, laying the dress back down on the table. She moved to sit on the bed, shoved into the corner of the room and surrounded by perilously stacked boxes. Jenny went through around the boxes to join Silva on the bed.

"What's really up?" Jenny knew Silva well enough to know that Silva wouldn't have stopped working if the only thing Jenny was here for was an opinion.

"You're playing tonight?" Silva asked without any build-up, as usual.

"How did you know that? _I _didn't even know that until ten minutes ago."

Silva shrugged with a familiar mysterious glimmer in her eyes. "Does it matter? But I want you to be careful…" Silva bit her lip as if trying to figure how to word her sentence. "You will be meeting people…and…I mean, just don't let them touch you."

I snorted. "I'm not going to let random people _touch_ me. I'm not that stupid."

"Debatable," Silva said, flashing a quick smile but still looking unsure. "Just remember that." Silva fell back onto the bed, looking up at her beautifully painted ceilings. Like Jenny, Silva was a human but unlike Jenny, no one had fallen in love with her. It was her ability to create art of every kind that Jarvs had fallen in love with. He had found her just a month after I came to be with Julian and Jenny knew she would eternally be grateful for Jarvs for that. Julian had always been everything Jenny needed: a playmate, a confidence, and a lover, but there were things that a girl just needed another girl for.

"I was thinking of painting the walls," Silva murmured, softly like she was talking to herself but Jenny knew she wasn't.

"Painting them with what?" Jenny glanced over at Silva to see that she was studying the walls, painted a pearly white already.

"Everything. On the wall where the door is I'd put a collage of anything and everything. Over the bed…a creature, maybe one that is sleeping. Or I maybe a mother and baby animal together…or two babies."

"That sounds…amazing," she breathed because it really did. Jenny knew that with Silva's hand for art every painting would be amazingly accurate and realistic looking. "Do you happen to know what kind of Game it will be tonight?" Jenny asked Silva tentatively. She fixed Jenny with her silver-blue eyes that always seemed to see into her soul.

"It will be fun," she said finally, "For you, anyways. Tell me, Jenny, do you like lions?"

"What? Lions? Yeah, I guess they're cool, why?" Jenny eyed Silva suspiciously.

"Oh nothing," she replied with a satisfied smile. "Come on, let's make you up. Julian will be able to put you in whatever clothes he wants but he can't do your makeup and hair. Come here." With a smooth, inhuman-like grace, she stood and went over to her dresser, piled with all sorts of makeup and mirrors, that was crammed in the corner of the room.

Jenny automatically followed her but her words stopped Jenny. "He can…choose my clothes?" Jenny automatically played nervously with the fabric of her sundress. Silva glanced back at Jenny with a smile and raised eyebrows that confirmed Jenny's wonders. Jenny sighed and sat down in the chair that Silva had pulled out; Silva immediately turned the chair away from the mirrors and got to work on Jenny's face.

An hour and a half later, Jenny was leaving Silva's room. She didn't wear makeup that often but when she did, Silva loved to do it for her. Sometimes she went overboard but tonight she had gotten it down perfect. Silva had created a mysterious smoky look by using various shades of purple eyeshadow to make Jenny's green eyes even greener and then a thin line of eyeliner. Jenny didn't care so much for the dark red lipstick—rogue fire, Silva said—but Silva had insisted that she keep it on. Jenny's hair was down in soft curls, falling over her shoulders.

"Well, don't you look alluring." Julian's voice surprised Jenny and she spun on a heel to see him waiting beside the door.

"You don't think Silva went crazy, do you?"

"Of course not. I think I might have to change your part in the Game though…maybe elephants or lions…" Julian musing trailed off. He came closer to Jenny, kissing her softly. "Can't ruin your lipstick," he murmured with his lips barely brushing hers.

"Screw the lipstick, I can fix it," Jenny whispered back and kissed him back. Julian quickly took over the kiss, keeping it soft but fierce. It was he that pulled away first.

"Are you ready?" he asked her. Jenny sucked in her breath and then nodded.

"Good. The players are ready." Julian flashed Jenny and quick, wolfish smile. "Now close your eyes." Jenny did as she was told and felt a slight crushing sensation before Julian pulled her closer to him. A moment later the sensation was gone and Jenny opened her eyes. "Where are we?" was her first question. They weren't in a room but an empty field. There was a single door at the edge of the field, with nothing surrounding it. Just a door coming from nowhere

"This is your first job." Julian swept his hand around the field. "The task for the players: what would they do to save themselves and the others? You can choose anything and I'll make it." Jenny didn't have to think long. There had already been something on top of her mind, something from a horrible book she had read not long ago. When she explained it the Julian he looked surprised but nodded, saying that it would be perfect.

"Close your eyes again. When you return here everything will be set up for you." Julian took Jenny's hands again and a few moments later they were in a huge room—a gothic ballroom, I thought. It was all arches and beautiful hanging chandeliers. The ground was marble, polished and sparkling in the candlelight.

Then I looked at myself. I was wearing a ball gown, burgundy in color. It was…floofy and brushed the ground, the skirt bunched and with sequins decorating the ends. It had a corset top, also covered with decorating sequins, and sleeveless.

"I've always wanted to see you in one of these," Julian said, smiling. He took one of my hands and gave me a spin.

"You can dream up amazing things," I laugh, showing off the dress for him.

"Not dreamt but lived. Well, I think we look fairly presentable for our guests, don't you?" I glanced at him. He wasn't dressed up as much as I was but not as casual as he had been before. I gave him a nod and a smile. "Here they come." With those words, I automatically took Julian's arms and he nodded at the door they would be entering.

In another minute, the door was opening and six figures stumbled into the ballroom. Julian, his expression cold, said, "welcome to the Game."

**So here you go. Again, please review as I LOVE reviews, critics especially. Next chapter hopefully coming soon—I was planning on making this one longer so it ends at the next scene but I thought this was a pretty good place to stop. I'll try to make the next one longer ^^ **


	3. What Would You Do?

**I feel totally horrible guys. I wrote up all this below the day after my next update but I didn't want to post it until it was finished. However, since I feel so bad I'm posting it now, though it is unfinished. Sorry :\ I was going to just post a message about why I haven't updated but I decided that I'd feel better if I did this. I hope it doesn't annoy you guys too much Dx**

**I've been super busy with life and working on another project, a story but one that I'm doing something super special with—not an online posting/fanfiction story. That story currently has my complete devotion and I can't be doing both at once or else I'll lose my muse. Please forgive me guys and I WILL try to continue with this story soon. I need a vote in the reviews: would you rather I ****try****to update more frequently with possibly much shorter chapters (about the length of this one or less) or wait what could be quite a while for long chapters?**

**Here's chapter two—please review and enjoy! Beware—this level may be a bit gruesome and disturbing for some of you people. The first long paragraph is where the disturbing part begins!**

Chapter 2

"What is this?" One of them asked warily. It was one of the three females and even from the distance Jenny could see this one was powerfully built, moving like Silva did with accidental grace.

"This is the Game," Julian responded. Jenny didn't look at him but she could hear the smirk in his voice, though his face was probably expressionless.

"And you are?" One of the boys talked this one, built not like a fighter but close, with all muscle and size.

"Julian. And this is," Julian started, sweeping his hand towards Jenny.

"Jenny," she interjected with a light voice. How did she feel? She felt…powerful. She didn't have Julian's power but he would protect her and do whatever was necessary. Was this how Julian felt all the time? One of the boys jerked in surprise—this one with a ponytail. He stared hard at Jenny but then looked away with the shake of his head.

There was silence and it was Julian that broke it. "Now don't be rude, tell me your names." More silence. When Julian spoke again, his voice was darker and more threatening. "I recommend you tell me before I do something that you'll regret."

They all hesitated and it was the first girl that spoke. "I'm Dee. They're Michael, Tom, Zach, Summer, and Audrey." Jenny considered speaking but decided against it—she wanted to see how Julian did this.

"And you found the Game." Julian was looking at the auburn haired girl, Audrey, as he spoke.

"Yes," she replied, lifting her chin with a defiant gesture though her eyes were terrified. Jenny couldn't help but feeling a bit of sympathy for them. The sympathy quickly hardened, though. She had been dealing with this since Julian had saved her from the Shadow Men and, though she couldn't get comfortable with it, she had learned to get used to it.

"Well," Julian was saying, "You just doomed yourself and your friends, girl. Let the Game begin. Be careful which door you go through." Julian winked at the six and then the sensation began again. Instinctively, Jenny closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes again, they were at the scene of her own personal part of the Game but there was an odd flickering in the air. It took Jenny a moment to realize that she was seeing the players, partly transparent.

"Which door?" The fatter boy asked. He looked downright terrified and unlike Audrey, he didn't attempt a brave air.

"That one," the one Jenny remembered as Dee said, pointing with a long finger at one of the doors.

"It's time," Julian murmured, bending to press a quick kiss on Jenny's forehead. In another moment he had disappeared, leaving Jenny still wearing the ball gown. The door at the end of the field opened and the players entered, the door disappearing around them once they had released it.

They didn't notice Jenny at first; they were too absorbed by the gruesome scenes around them and the sudden keening in the air. Jenny guessed that Julian had set all the scenes into motion.

"Hello," she said with a smile on her face. Her forest green eyes were focused on the six friends rather than the scenes around her. She had come up with them but that didn't make them any less horrifying for her.

"You're…Jenny," Audrey said, scrambling for the name. Jenny merely kept smiling, feeling a sudden coolness and confidence. She knew that Julian was watching, unseen.

"Have you ever wondered what you would do for your friends?" Jenny asked, moving towards them. She had gotten a rough draft of her speech together in her head but for the most part the words were raw with little thorough planning. "Perhaps you, Dee. You're powerful and brave, I can see that. Have you ever fantasized what you could do to save the day were one of these others in danger? Or you, Summer. So small and fragile. Surely you've imagined being the hero."

"She's small but not as fragile as you think," Tom snapped suddenly, leaping to Summer's defense. Jenny turned to look at him as she spoke, "That may be so or it may not. We'll find out won't we? So what would you do for your friends?" Jenny asked again.

"What does…any of that have to do with…this?" Summer asked weakly, waving her hand slightly at the scenes. Jenny did not answer the question directly but walked towards the first scene, a massive bronze bull.

"You know, death sentences may seem cruel nowadays but they're really actually humane penalties. A brass worker in Athen's came up with this one. His name was Perillos. One story says that the tyrant of Akragas, Sicily was looking for a new way to execute criminals and so Perrilos made this bull. It's made entirely of brass and its hollow, see?" Jenny opened the small door on the side of the bull to show a nearly black inside. "They would get the prisoner inside and light a fire underneath until the metal became yellow hot…the prisoner would roast to death. The head of the bull has a complex series of tubes. When the prisoner screams it transforms a sound much like the sound of an angry bull. When they opened the door again there was nothing left but the bones, which were often made into jewelry." Jenny paused and watched the players. Some of them had a looked of horrified fascination on their face, like Jenny when she had read about it, but then the others looked simply horrified.

"The tyrant—Phalaris—may have been cruel but even this idea horrified him. And he was smart. He ordered that Perillos step into the bull and test the sound system himself. Phalaris locked him in there and set a fire under him so he could hear the screams of Perillos. One story says that Phalaris removed Perillos from the bull before he died. Perillos believed that he would receive a gift for his invention." Jenny gave them all a wry smile. "Instead, Phalaris threw him off a hill, which ultimately killed him. It's believed that Phalaris died in this bull when he was overthrown by Telemachus."

Jenny ended her story, her hand resting on the bull and fighting to hide the emotions she was now feeling. The story sickened her but like many others it also fascinated her.

"That's disgusting," Michael choked out.

"That's life," Jenny retorted. "Humans have been doing it for millennia." She pointed to a pot. "In that one a person would be stripped naked and placed in a vat of already boiling liquid—usually oil, acid, tar, water, or molten lead—or they would be placed in the liquid when it was cold and the liquid would boil around them. To me it seems to be a personal favorite of King Henry VIII." She gestured towards a long wooden table. "Flaying. They would use a sharp knife and cut the skin from your body while you're alive, attempting to keep the skin all together like you would were you making a fur blanket. The apostle Bartholomew was flayed and then crucified—upside down. Another story says that he was beheaded after they skinned him."

"In the Ling Chi a knife was also used and body parts were cut from the body, slowly and painfully. Their breasts, arms, legs, chest, and then at last they were either beheaded or stabbed. The Breaking Wheel—or the Catherine Wheel—was from medevil times. A person would be spread across a wheel and tied. Then the wheel would turn while someone attacked the person with a heavy metal bar, breaking their bones. Surprising that in the merciful execution they would shatter many bones and then deliver to killing shot. In others the criminal would stay on the wheel until they died. This might have taken days and they would die of shock or dehydration. And last here we have sawing. A criminal would be hung upside down, naked, and would be cut from the…groin to the head. Because they were upside down and the blood rushed to their head they often didn't die until the abdomens main blood vessels were reached."

Silence was what followed. No longer fascination but cruel, cold horror.

"Why are you telling us this?" Dee asked, sounding strong but strained. Now Jenny had to turn away to hide her face.

"I already told you, what would you do to save your friends?" Jenny turned back to them, having recomposed herself.

"No," Zach spluttered. "You can't mean…"

"Zach, what?" Audrey demanded loudly. Jenny could see that Dee and Tom and Michael already understood.

"We have to kill one of us?" Tom asked.

"No, of course not," Jenny said, looking startled. "That kind of ruins the point of you saving each other, doesn't it? No, you need to do it to other people." Jenny looked meaningfully as the mostly silent now line of people.

"Michael," Audrey whimpered, clinging to him.

"We won't do it," Dee said. Jenny again admired her courage.

"Are you admitting forfeit? When you forfeit the Game is over and…you all die. I'll give you five minutes to discuss." With clear purpose, Jenny stepped away from them, towards the giant pot for boiling to give them their discussion time.


	4. Note by Author

**Alright guys, I really must apologize. I've been getting the reviews and they've been encouraging me little by little, I've just been busy with life, school, and my other story. **

**So here's what I'll do. I want to write (or finish writing, I forget) the next chapter but I have finals this week so I won't be able to get it done this week, I think. I'll try, try, try to get it posted this weekend. Thank you everyone and I appreciate your comments, especially **marrymejulian3**'s which provided the last boost I needed to try to get this started again.**


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